When I was first asked to write an article about beauty, I wasn’t sure what I was going to write. I don’t currently work in the beauty industry, even though for 13 years, I washed and styled wigs for different shaitel machers (wig stylists) to pay for school, rent and, oh yes, life. I mainly work in the fashion industry, which I feel, falls under the category of beauty industry-adjacent, at the very least. So, in short, I’m qualified.
As I was thinking of ideas for this piece, I realized—anyone can be qualified. Beauty isn’t just about makeup and hair. Beauty is about how you see the world and experience it. It can be in day-to-day moments, the non-physical; it can be about the perfect sundae on the hottest day in summer, or about running into a long-lost friend on a random street. Beauty is finishing a book and crying on the last page, because you don’t want it to end, or about the wind blowing just right, as a bird above you soars carelessly along your route. And so it hit me. I’m going to write about the beauty of the brain. The way we limit ourselves in a limitless world, when it’s open for us to see and to live the most beautiful life we can, if we only just open ourselves up to it.
Everyone has tough moments occasionally, and unless you are truly blessed with easiness, you will have times in life where you ask yourself, “Why me?” These moments can also be beautiful. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the more roughness you go through in life, the luckier you are, because everyone receives their hardships in different ways. I will say, those who have struggled have a view of the world unparalleled to the world they saw and knew before. Lucky are those that find beauty in the mundane without having to go through tragedy or loss. Blessed are those that still find beauty after they have.
Beauty has so many labels and ideas attached to it that through the years and generations, there have been limits and general agreements on what beauty can mean. In today’s day and age, we are on the cusp of what I’d like to call, “The Beauty Revolution”. I think we are on the brink of self-acceptance on a much grander scale than ever before. If there is one great thing about transparency in social media, it’s the spread of this exact thing. People like you and me, celebrities, media personalities and people of influence can almost all agree—it’s time for not only self-acceptance, but for self-celebration. It’s more than high time we realize the power of what is truly beautiful, and the beautiful possibilities that are at our fingertips the moment we do.
Life isn’t and shouldn’t be about trying to fit a mold that was never made for us. There is a reason we weren’t all born looking and acting the same. So why try so hard to become the same? Each and every person on earth has something beautiful and almost magical to contribute. Even if you don’t believe in a higher purpose, there is no way to deny cause and effect. You are the cause in being brought here, and your effect can be anything. If you can’t see the beauty in that, you aren’t trying hard enough. So many of us make a habit of only focusing on the negative, which understandably, isn’t something that can and or should be ignored, but just because something is there doesn’t mean you should harp and put more energy into it than you have to. Your energy can be placed in literally anything; anything on the planet and above. When you have something that you absolutely love or are passionate about, your brain tunes in, and even on the hardest days, you know you still have that to turn to. Be it books, music, nature, a friend, etc. The beauty of this world/life is that it’s your choice where you put your energy and focus. If you choose to focus on the beautiful, the beautiful will focus on you.
